Why Video Games Were Such A Huge Part Of The Tokyo Olympics
Anyone who has enjoyed watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will surely have noticed that there was a strong presence of video game music, memorabilia, and shout-outs throughout the 17-day event. This is something that has not been seen in any other previous Olympic events. So, why were video games such a big part of the Tokyo Olympics?
Often, Olympics host countries have chosen to focus on their national heritage and athletic prowess, as have the Olympians themselves. This has included David Beckham soaring down the River Thames in London with the Olympic torch in 2012, Pelé joining a Carnival dance number while donning his famous football shirt ahead of Brazil’s 2016 Olympics, and horseback riders stealing the show at the Sydney Olympics' opening ceremony. However, unlike at previous games, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics' opening ceremony featured music from Final Fantasy, Sonic, Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, and more. Meanwhile, the athletes themselves professed their love for video games in a variety of ways.
Russian sports shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina wore a Cat School medallion from The Witcher during her event (and ultimately won Gold) and was then welcomed back home from Tokyo with a moving rendition of Toss A Coin To Your Witcher by the Russian Omsk Folk choir. Others too revealed that they enjoyed playing video games when not competing, with United States beach volleyball player Kelly Claes stating that in her downtime she had been playing Marvel’s Spider-Man and Belgium's gymnast coach Marjorie Heuls has used a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Link amiibo as a good luck charm since 2017. Even the commentators got in on the action, with one making an amusing reference to 2013’s The Last of Us during the Woman’s Wrestling.
There are a couple of factors to consider when pondering why video games have been such a huge part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. First and foremost, video games are an incredibly famous part of Japanese culture. The video game music that was featured in the opening ceremony all came from prominent Japanese studios, such as Capcom, Square Enix, and Sega. Acknowledging the culture and heritage of a host country is all part of what an Olympics opening ceremony is about, so the inclusion of video game music makes a lot of sense.
Then of course, there is the timing of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Over the last few decades, the video games industry has become an integral part of pop culture. This has meant that many Olympic athletes have grown up with video games as a standard part of their lives. They have been there during the debuts of Xbox and PlayStation, the rise of online gameplay, and the birth of open-world maps. With this in mind, it is only natural that those competing would have experienced the utter joy that comes from video games for themselves. And, as with anything that someone is passionate about, sharing those passions is just a natural human instinct.